The use of anti-bacterial, anti-viral carcinostatic and anti-carcinogenic substances, while widely known in the art, is still the subject of massive continuing research, much of which, in addition to the discovery of new agents, is directed to the discovery of means for the enhancement of the activity of known active agents.
Indeed, certain substances derived from bee venom have been studied and have been found useful in certain specific pharmacologic applications. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,444,753 issued Apr. 24, 1984, describes a composition comprising a component obtained by deproteinizing an extract from the poison pouch contents of bees. This product has an immuno-stimulating activity, a carcinostatic activity, an effect of enhancing the antibacterial activity of an anti-bacterial substance, and an effect of enhancing the carcinostatic activity of a carcinostatic substance. The invention disclosed in that patent is directed to carcinostatic, immuno-stimulating and antibacterial agents comprising the composition described. While that invention is similar in purpose to that of the present invention, it differs in that the bee extract is modified by deproteinizing it so that it is negative in biuret reaction and sulfosalicylic acid reaction.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,370,316, issued Jan. 25, 1983 to the same inventors as the patent described above, also claims a method of treating a host animal having decreased immunity by administering an effective amount of the deproteinized extract from the poison pouch of the bee.
Therefore, while anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-carcinogenic substances are well known, and it is also known that a deproteinized extract from the poison pouch of a bee has certain useful activities, including anti-bacterial activity, activity in stimulating anti-bacterial activity and immuno-stimulating activity, it has not been recognized previously that proteinaceous hymenoptera venoms or proteinaceous or polypeptide extracts thereof have an enhancing effect on virtually all anti-bacterial, anti-viral, carcinostatic and anti-carcinogenic agents. Such enhancement of the activity of such primary anti-infectious agents not only increases the effect of dosages of such agents which would be effective alone but can also render effective low dosages of such agents which would be ineffective if used alone.
As noted above, the present invention relates to the use of hymenoptera venom or proteinaceous or polypeptide components thereof to enhance the activity of anti-infectious therapeutic agents in general. To simplify the description of the invention, however, it will be discussed below for purposes of illustration, in the use of honeybee venom or its proteinaceous extract melittin, in the enhancement of the activity of antibiotics in the control of bacterial, viral, and cancerous infections. Honeybee venom (HBV has been selected since it is readily available. It is to be understood, however, that the venom of other hymenoptera and proteinaceous or polypeptide components thereof are also effective in the invention in varying degrees. Similarly, anti-infectious agents other than antibiotics may also be employed in the invention in the treatment of infections for which they have been used previously, but with enhanced effect when used in combination with the proteinaceous hymenoptera agents.
As further background, it is noted that honeybee venom is credited with a multitude of useful activities. Some of the activities are scientifically documented while others appear to be based on empirical data and folklore. The in vitro antibacterial activity of honeybee venom is well documented (Schmidt-Lange, 1951; Ortel and Markwardt, 1955; Fennel et alia, 1968), however, few efforts have been made to put this activity to practical use. In the present invention, the data from several empirical experiments indicated that the antibacterial activity of honeybee venom may have a significant effect in vivo, in the presence of antibiotics. Based upon these observations, an investigation was designed to study the interactions of honeybee venom and antibiotics using an in vitro assay where the two compounds could be evaluated without the contributing effects of the natural immune responses of the host animal.
In this study, three strains of bacteria were tested initially against three different antibiotics using separate checkerboard titrations of honeybee venom with each antibiotic. Representatives of three major groups of antibiotics (penicillins, aminoglycosides, and polymyxins) were selected and assayed to determine if honeybee venom could improve the antibacterial efficacy of selected antibiotics. An antibiotic from a fourth major group was studied later as described below.
Once synergy was demonstrated in the checkerboard assay, a broader survey was attempted using a simplified procedure. Two automated minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay plates, which titrate susceptibility to eleven antibiotics simultaneously, were inoculated in parallel with bacterial cultures with and without non-inhibitory doses of honeybee venom (HBV). Eight gram-positive and four gram-negative organisms were tested using this system in an effort to find classes of antibiotics that routinely produce synergy with HBV, and to determine the spectrum of synergistic action of these combinations among different groups of bacteria.
In addition to testing whole honeybee venom, the venom was fractionated by size exclusion chromatography. Each of four fractions were tested to determine if a specific component was responsible for antibacterial activity and could also act synergistically in antibacterial assays. It was shown that the fraction containing melittin, which had been previously identified as the antibacterial element of the honeybee venom (Fennel et alia, 1968), is active in its purified form and will act synergistically in a magnitude equal to that of whole honeybee venom.